0. Excuse me. May I ask for your ear?
1. Sure thing. What's on your mind?
2. I have the desire to be learning more about [cdb]mercenaries. It is a subject of much fascination [cdb]to me.
3. Uh, sure, I guess. But I think you've heard most of the [cdb]exciting bits by now.
4. Nonsense. Each word you speak is full of excitement!
5. Please give me more illumination. For example, [cdb]are you receiving payment for your work here?
6. Sure, me and Edelgard have a contract.
7. Sure, me and Dimitri have a contract.
8. Sure, me and Claude have a contract.
9. Lucrative one, too, as these things go. Guess the boss [cdb]thinks pretty highly of me.
10. You said money was of importance for people who [cdb]sell their swords.
11. But what if an enemy offered a bigger payment? Would you be taking it?
12. Say you'd turn the money down.
13. Say no decent mercenary is that corrupt.
14. Are you kidding? I'd tell 'em to get lost before they [cdb]could finish the offer. But there are plenty of mercs [cdb]who wouldn't—gold sings loudest, you know?
15. Still, if an enemy can outbid your current employer, [cdb]it means they've got a good shot at winning.
16. You'd need more than that to get a true merc to [cdb]switch sides.
17. Still, if an enemy can outbid your current employer, [cdb]it means they've got a good shot at winning.
18. And nobody who enjoys breathing wants to wind up [cdb]on the losing side.
19. So in Fódlan, one must try to be allies with the side [cdb]that has more richness?
20. See, that's the thing—trust is its own currency, too. I mean, let's say someone shows up with a pile of gold [cdb]and asks you to switch sides. Tempting, right?
21. But you gotta be careful. You could take them up on [cdb]their offer, only to learn that the money was just bait, [cdb]and the guy actually wants you dead.
22. And to make things worse, the honest employer you [cdb]just stabbed in the back now knows you're as reliable [cdb]as a three-legged horse.
23. Point is, integrity means more to a mercenary than [cdb]money. Probably should have led with that, actually.
24. I have understanding.
25. Trust is of importance to everyone, but that has even [cdb]more truth for a seller of swords.
26. You got it. Oh, and trust me—folks who hire for the [cdb]best jobs make sure to know everything about you [cdb]before extending the offer.
27. But there's a flip side to that coin—if you're the type [cdb]of employer who likes to leave mercs in the lurch, [cdb]you better believe that word'll get around.
28. Hard enough to stay alive without that nonsense.
29. That is a thing we all share in common. We wish to keep breathing, as you said.
30. And what if I was offering a job? We are on [cdb]the same side. Would that be betrayal?
31. Brigid is a land of richness. We can offer much in [cdb]exchange for the selling of your sword.
32. Respond positively.
33. Shrug it off.
34. Sounds tempting, but... Eh, I can't. I've gotta see my [cdb]current contract through first.
35. Sorry, Petra. I'm off the market until I see my current [cdb]contract through.
36. Also, didn't we just get done discussing how terrible it [cdb]is to abandon a job before it's done?
37. Ha! I knew you would be declining. You are the [cdb]model of a mercenary!